IE hijacker (virus?) istart123.com (SOLVED)

[Sandman]

Hi, I encountered this program/virus called WinZipper. I uninstalled it however it changed all the settings of IE and Chrome to open to a website called istart123 . com(pic). I believe it to just ad-ware, some believe to to be spyware. No matter what I do I cannot get rid of it on IE(I managed to remove it by uninstalling and re installing chrome). I have changed the settings through internet options to set the homepage back to normal, the same with the new tab window. Now it only appears when I start a new window on IE. I have tried a full system scan through SFC /SCANNOW, Malwarebytes, and the Tweaking program with all optional requirements. Nothing is detected in any of them. I have even tried to turn it off through the "Turn Windows features on and off". It is still there when I turn it back on. My only thought as to what to do next is to delete and re-install IE, but I do not know how. Any solution to this rather annoying problem?

System OS: Windows 8.1
IE version: 11

[Gamezertruth]

yup this is an hijacked of your web browser so you need to an anti-malware software to get rid of it
use adware too to get rid of it https://toolslib.net/downloads/viewdownload/1-adwcleaner/

winzipper is a malware http://www.shouldiremoveit.com/WinZipper-68598-program.aspx

edit : Malwarebytes link removed !

[Boggin]

The nearest you can get to uninstalling IE is what you have already done in Turn Windows features on or off as IE is part of Windows.

AdwCleaner is an ideal tool for getting rid of adware and you can follow that up with a scan with Junkware Removal Tool.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/

For AdwCleaner click on Scan and when that has completed it may list some items in the lower pane.

If there are any that you recognize and want to keep, uncheck their boxes.

Click on Report and that will show you what else it has found and will delete when you hit the Clean button.

Close the report then click on Clean and another report will be produced after the reboot to show what it has deleted.

The link for JRT is lower down the AdwCleaner page.

This takes a bit longer to run and will produce its report as to what it has removed upon completion.

[Sandman]

Thanks to you both! this has immediately fixed it!

[Boggin]

That's great news 

[jraju]

Hi, Boggins,
                  is   adware cleaner different from malware cleaner. Does not malwarebytes clean adware?
So, one has to have this also to clean the unwanted advertisement wares.

[Boggin]

Hi, Boggins,
                  is   adware cleaner different from malware cleaner. Does not malwarebytes clean adware?
So, one has to have this also to clean the unwanted advertisement wares.

AdwCleaner and Junkware Removal Tool are more adept at routing out PuPs and malicious toolbars because on their own, they may be valid programs and unless an anti malware program has been programmed to recognise them, it won't snag them.

Sometimes the likes of MBAM and SuperAntiSpyWare will report their removal just for them to return - ADW and JRT have been specifically designed to deal with PuPs, Toolbars and browser hijackers.

In the AdwCleaner link scroll down to and click on the JRT link and you will see the types of programs it will remove.

[Shane]

I have been losing faith in malwarebytes lately and just started using AdwCleaner, and so far I am liking it, it is the only one that also cleans out their browser hijacks where malwarebytes doesnt even scan them.

So far over the last week of using AdwCleaner compared to malwarebytes, AdwCleaner has been kicking butt. I hope it stays that way.

Shane

[Samson]

I agree with all the favourable comments about AdwCleaner, I have ran it a few times in the past. It can sometimes be a little too aggressive, with false positives. Although, to be fair these are quickly addressed. It can be a good idea to check before cleaning.

I have found this to be a useful resource for checking before cleaning.

http://www.systemlookup.com/

[Boggin]

I tend to advise running Junkware Removal Tool after AdwCleaner as it quite often finds other bits to remove.

[jraju]

Hi, I used wisecare some time back, and as per leo notes, aggressive cleaning also eats some system files which is listed in those cleaners. Even care should be taken when cleaning registry with ccleaner. I used to clean the three cleaners, but now i leave the registry and carefully studying before cleaning.
                             I also would download adware cleaner for malware bytes, that it is having huge user interface, but leaving browser hijacks as it is ,  as Shane has pointed out.
                                Regarding Boggins suggestion of JRT, I first advised everybody and also used the same to clean not deletable root kits. But the drawback is that user has no say in it. It is doing its job silently and user has no control whether to delete a file or not. It washed them all. But so far, it is good in cleaning adware and suspicious files inside registries also.
                                Boggins, where is the adw cleaner link to see what JRT cleans

[Boggin]

Click on the AdwCleaner link and scroll down the page where you will see links for other anti malware scanners, click on the JRT one and that will take you to its download page where when you scroll down that, you'll see more info on the program's capability.

[jraju]

Hi, I am already using JRT .But i do not know what it does. It simply kills unwanted files, as per thisusu.org pages, which is updated every day. I thought, you mean that ad cleaner has a kind of jrt and what it could kill.
                        The best tool of course, but there is no user control, on finding . It itself deletes and produce a log file. Thats all.

[Boggin]

I found that AdwCleaner took out an insignificant program that I had no control over and while programs in themselves can be legit, it may still snag them as PuPs because they may display some of the traits they are looking for.

I don't run AdwCleaner or JRT on a regular basis if at all, but I will advise others to run them when I suspect their connectivity problems are caused by adware or toolbars.

[jraju]

Hi,
           I ran adware cleaner, and its scan shows esupport.com in the user temp folder. I searched for it in net and found that it was injected when i tried their biosagent updates from their site. Seems that adware cleaner is working right, Boggins. I deleted and reboot to get rid of it.
                     I saw a review on it for easy update of bios on that program. But when i installed after creating Restore Point, surprised to see that the promised scan results are not shown. Moreover, when i attempted sys restore, it does not work in normal and safe mode also.

                                 Spurious program and i finally restored using repair option and then selecting system restore from there. It seems that adware cleanrer is finding the suspicious. Then i found that it (esupport.com) is making inroad to your registries and doing mischiefs.
Warning:Please see the link: but do not download anything
http://biosagentplus.com/?ref=616&PHPSESSID=0gl2k2dmbdfgur3d8l3a99upd2

[Gamezertruth]

there is a fake Adwcleaner http://www.tweaking.com/forums/index.php/topic,2796.msg18914.html#new